Why practicing on electric drums basically sucks

Posted by Hugh Lawrence on April 11, 2017

It's such a common "solution" to drum practice - buy an electric kit. This way you can plug headphones in, stay up when the kids are in bed, and work on getting ready for the next rehearsal or performance, right?

Wrong!

Ever noticed how this method of practice does not actually prepare you in any meaningful way for what is to come - when you get back to your REAL drums and cymbals, they feel so radically different to play than the e-kit - your preparation lets you down, and you still feel rusty despite the hours of 'practice' you've put in.

Let's un-pack this a bit:

1. Size and positioning. Pads from e-kits are smaller than drums, the cymbal pads are at best rubber discs and at worst a plastic triangle. Most people use the rack supplied with the e-kit, and 95% of the time this leads to a subtly differing set-up to your real kit - the physical movements made to play are not the same. You are internalising a different set of physical movements...

2. Tactile feedback. The rebound from pads is not like that of drums, the rebound from cymbals is even more radically different to the electronic counterparts. This leads to your internal neurological memory of practice "muscle memory" being built on an alternative set of experiences - so when you're back on the real drum set on a stage or in a rehearsal room - that muscle memory is useless...

OK, so what's the solution?

PRACTICE ON THE SAME GEAR THAT YOU TAKE ON STAGE!

That's why I make Cymbomute® and sell them around the world - then your cymbals can move from stage, to practice room - even when volume is a constraint.

Even if your cymbal set up is a 6" splash, a 24" Ride, and 12" Hats - Cymbomute can enable you to "mute-up and practice" happily, constructively, and efficiently.